June 8, 2009 Post-Meeting List

• Unanimously to approve the revisions to Section
2.3 of the Appointed Committee Handbook, as amended

• Unanimously to approve the revisions to Section
2.6 of the Appointed Committee Handbook, as amended

• Unanimously to approve the April 27th minutes

• Unanimously to approve the May 4th minutes as
amended

• Unanimously to approve the May Select Board
Report as amended

• Unanimously to approve the street closing and
parking request for the Big Bothers/Big Sisters Artisan Craft Fair, per the
motion sheet, with the changes: at the end of the first bullet point,
changing "7:00 p.m." to "9:00 a.m.," and adding
"except for five meters which shall remain bagged from Spring Street south
on Boltwood Avenue until 7:00 p.m."

• Unanimously to approve the street closing and
parking request for the Taste of Amherst, per the motion sheet

• Unanimously to approve the Special Liquor
License for Atkins Cruise Night, per the motion sheet

• Unanimously to approve the Special Liquor License
for a UMass event, per the additional motion sheet

• Unanimously to appoint Vince O'Connor to the
Nyeri Sister City Committee; Rob Kusner to the "Save Our Stop" Task
Force (both effective immediately) and Mark Parent to ZBA as an Associate
Member and Hilda Greenbaum to ZBA as a full member (both effective July 1) as
per the motion sheet, amended to include the these start dates

• Unanimously to reappoint starting July 1: Ellen
Kosmer to CPAC; Laurie Nisoff to Amherst Cultural Council; Thomas Simpson as a
Full member of ZBA, filling the unexpired term of Jane Ashby; Barbara Ford, as
a Full member of ZBA; Thomas Ehrgood as an Associate member of ZBA; Albert
Woodhull as an Associate member of ZBA, per the motion sheet, with the addition
of the 7/1 start date

Warrant Articles:

• Stephanie gave an introductory statement about
budget process and collaborative efforts that brought us to this point

Article 22:Operating BudgetLibrary: Library Trustees and Library Director spoke in favor of their
larger requested appropriation, explaining the risks of potential
decertification, loss of State funds, loss of access to Federal funds, and
inability for patrons to request inter-library loans; also explained that their
budget cuts came from reducing new material purchases by 30%. Finance
Committee members explained the process of applying to the State for a waiver
to maintain certification, preventing the loss of access to funds and
inter-library loans; also explained the desire for parity of reductions across
the different budget areas

Schools: Elementary and Regional Schools are
in agreement with the Fin Com recommendations; there was discussion re: three
of four towns needing to approve the Regional budget, and how Amherst can't be
compelled to pay the higher amount approved by Leverett and Shutesbury because
the Regional School Committee has subsequently voted a lower budget, which is
now the determining factor

Municipal budget areas: Considered whether
SB should have input on where final $275K of personnel reductions should come
from; majority sense was no, as the cuts do not represent changes in services
provided by the Town (though they certainly affect delivery of those services
and functioning of those departments); there was considerable discussion to
clarify numbers and answer questions

Article 13 - Gas Tax petition: Gerry and
Diana said they supported it; Alisa said she had expected to oppose it, but
would support it because of the details it includes; Aaron said he would
support it if the language is tweaked a bit; Stephanie said she wouldn't
support it because she doesn't feel her personal opinions on broad taxation
policies qualify her to offer an opinion in her official capacity

• Diana announced a community celebration picnic
sponsored by the Human Rights Commission to be held from noon to 4:00 p.m. on
Sunday, June 14th at GroffPark

• Larry announced that the SEIU said it is willing
to seriously consider zero COLA for FY10

• Stephanie reported that she had reached out to
the Fourth of July Parade Committee Chair to see if progress might be made on
the Select Board's desire for a compromise regarding parade participation that
would allow use of Town equipment. She and Alisa were invited to attend
the Parade Committee's meeting, and had a productive and clarifying
discussion. She said an update or announcement about a
mutually-acceptable resolution could happen soon.

Ms O'Keeffe, First, Thank you. Second, I have some questions. Please feel free to respond at your own pace or not at all. You've clearly done extraordinary work already and I would not want to add to it.

-Is the agreement available for review so that we can examine it and know what is expected of those who want to march?

-I don't understand the word "hopes". Were the concessions agreeable to those who pressed for them or not (unclear in paragraph five below)?

-I don't understand the paragraph that starts "O'Keeffe said it might not be fair to hold the private parade to a higher standard..." Does the author mean to imply that the League wanted more concessions that it didn't get as a result of the other anniversary parade's less accommodating standard? Why are there two standards?

O'Keeffe prepared a summary for the board outlining the agreements reached at the meeting, including allowing political messages in the parade, despite organizers stating their preference to prohibit these; making allowances for participants to carry additional banners; and working with groups to ensure views are expressed in a way committee members are comfortable with.

"I think that this really shows a lot of accommodation and desire on the part of the parade committee to accommodate what the town is looking for," O'Keeffe said.

Kevin Joy, a founder of the parade that began in 2002, said Tuesday that the committee has long felt its rules are justified and not onerous. "We haven't denied anyone access," Joy said.

Its rules have included that anyone who wishes to participate must sign up, that individuals and groups must carry an identifying sign and that all other signs be in the spirit of the parade, which includes honoring veterans, active military personnel and public safety officials.

The Select Board hopes the modified rules will let members of groups like the League of Women Voters feel comfortable holding up signs stating opposition to war or support for other political causes.

[...]

Joy said members of the committee find it hypocritical that the 250th Anniversary parade, relying on taxpayer money along with donations and sponsorships, has a 13-page guide outlining its rules, which even contains clauses for removal of participants. "It's really bewildered a lot of people," Joy said.

The rulebook states that the anniversary parade is to celebrate the heritage, character and history of the town. "With that purpose in mind, the parade shall only accept participants in the parade that contribute to the recognition or celebration of the heritage, character and history of Amherst."

O'Keeffe said it might not be fair to hold the private parade to a higher standard, so the movement its organizers have made seems sufficient.

[...]

"[O'Keeffe and Brewer] went above and beyond what a normal Select Board member would do," Joy said.

The document is here. It is a summary of what I believed the Parade Committee's positions to be. They agreed that it was, and based on this, the SB voted its unanimous support for official participation in the parade.

I think your other questions can be answered by watching the discussion from Wednesday's meeting, which is available here and begins at about 53:45. (Drag the status bar in your video player to jump to different parts in the meeting; check the time indicator to move to a specific point.)

Sorry I don't have time to go into more detail. (Busy, busy -- and I'm two meeting lists behind!) It has been an excellent dialogue with the Parade Committee, and I am very happy with this result.

Thank you for your comment. It, along with the document and the video answer all my questions.

You and Ms Brewer have done a fine job finding a path that respects the parade committee's prerogative and protest advocates desire to participate. That's great. Now it is incumbent upon the parties to follow through in a manner of mutual respect so the final outcome is satisfactory this year and onward.

Perhaps more importantly, Amherst government cannot fairly be characterized as galvanizing bulkheads of opposing interests but rather as committed to adroitly finding a path forward ... that's on you and Ms Brewer. You rock.

KC said: "The best thing about this is the Select Board, finally recognized what a polarizing figure Larry Shaffer is and went around him to reach an amicable solution."

I think I'd dispute your assessment: "finally realized". You can deride the parties but that seems like a counterproductive exercise now that a way forward has been identified. The town manager was the government official working on resolving the conflict until O'Keeffe and Brewer became engaged.

I think my assessment is accurate. This had dragged on for 10 months and came down to the last two weeks. When some new people stepped in who were willing to listen and work towards the solution it became clear that the situation could be settled amicably. So I think finally rezlized is a very accurate assessment.